Giving Thanks Centerpiece - A Way to Share Your Family's Blessings

Giving Thanks Family Centerpiece

A Count Down to Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I wanted to do something interactive with my kids that could become an annual tradition.  I also wanted to stress the importance of thinking about the many blessings we have in our lives, so I decided to make something I could add to everyday that would display what we are thankful for.  So I thought why no make a turkey centerpiece, we could talk about what we are thankful for at dinner and add it to the feathers for everyone to see on our table.  This was an easy "craft" to make and only cost me $2.29 - the cost of the close pins, everything else I already had!

Here's what you need:

1  bare paper towel roll (just save one after you finish using the paper towels)

1 paper towel counter stand

construction paper - I used 6 colors - yellow, blue, green, pink, purple, and red 

1 - empty cereal box - I used this to cut out the body of my turkey, its stronger than construction paper and can hold up all the close pins.

1 package of 25 clothes pins

elmer's school glue

Here's how I made it:

Using an empty cereal box I traced a large circle on the bottom and a smaller one right on top of it.  I then cut it out so it looked like a snowman with only two snow balls.  The brown color of the card board worked perfectly for my turkey body.  I then took the construction paper and folded it into four and free hand cut out feathers.  Lastly, I used some left over blue and cut circles for the eyes, some left over yellow paper made a triangle for the beak, and a bit of wavy red for the neck.  Then, I simply glued the feathers to the clothes pins, glued the face on the turkey, and then glued it all to the bare paper towel roll.  Finally, I placed it on a counter top paper towel holder to dry, this will also be what allows it to stand as our centerpiece on the table.

Starting tonight my family and I will talk about what we are thankful for each day leading to Thanksgiving and write one thing on a feather for the day.  By Thanksgiving day the feathers will we filled with blessings!